The real problem? He dresses too well

Maajid Nawaz believes in the right to offend. Well so do I, writes Roshan Muhammed Salih. And that’s why today I’m calling him a donkey (apologies in advance to all donkeys).

Good start. Joke and meta-joke; always a winner.

Following his tweeting of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) and Prophet Isa (as) and the massive reaction to it, Nawaz wrote a ludicrous article in the Guardian claiming that he was trying to save Islam from being hijacked by extremists. In the risible piece which should be recycled as toilet paper, he was obviously trying to portray himself as some kind of “free speech martyr.”

But it is simply grotesque to compare Maajid Nawaz to any martyr who has ever lived, and far more accurate to liken him to an annoying horse-like creature which makes irritating noises.

Notice also the creepy deference to “martyrs” and remember some of the famous “martyrs” we’ve heard about over the past few years. It is grotesque to compare Nawaz to people who squander their own lives for the sake of killing a bunch of other random people, but not for the reasons Roshan Muhammad Salih meant to suggest.

Let’s get a few things straight.

Firstly, there is a broad cross-section of opinion within the Muslim community against Maajid Donkey Nawaz. In fact the only thing which brings us Muslims together like Mr Donkey is Israel.

He gets up the noses of Sufis, Shias, Salafis, “Islamists” and “non-Islamists” alike. This is because we can all see him for what he is – a vain attention-seeker whose voice has been artificially amplified by government finances, the BBC and the right-wing media.

Not true. This stupid mindless attack on Nawaz has been bringing liberal and secular Muslims together too. There are such Muslims, and no they do not see him the way Salih and his friends do.

And in his crusade to combat “Islamic extremism” all he’s really achieved is to make non-Muslims hate Muslims even more and to solidify the government narrative that British foreign policy is not the main motivating factor behind domestic radicalization.

Not true. Quite the contrary – it’s crude ragers like Salih who make non-Muslims wary of Islam. and reasonable people like Nawaz who make them rejoice that Islam can be compatible with secular democracy.

The truth is that for Muslims the petition campaign against Maajid Nawaz (which has garnered around 22,000 signatures) is not just about the cartoons he tweeted. Although most Muslims will definitely find the cartoons offensive the anger directed against him cannot be explained with reference to them alone.

Rather, we see it as an opportunity to demonstrate to the world how much all sections of the community revile this guy – and not just crazy, demented “Islamists” who want to behead all kufaar.

For us this is visceral and this is personal. It’s payback for six years of seeing him given a platform he doesn’t deserve to attack a community which is itself under attack.

Frankly, I don’t care if this campaign fails to achieve its stated goal – none of us should expect the Lib Dems to de-select him as a parliamentary candidate because they are part of the same establishment that has spewed him forth.

Rather, this campaign is an opportunity for all sections of the Muslim community to come together and tell the British media and establishment that this guy is persona non grata as far as we are concerned.

We are sick and tired of seeing him presented as a “Muslim commentator”, as the “voice of moderate Islam” or the voice of reason against hordes of fanatics. We are sick of seeing his sharp suits, perfect grooming and smarmy grin. We are fed up of seeing his know-it-all stare invading our personal space.

Maajid Nawaz believes in the right to offend. Well so do I, writes Roshan Muhammed Salih. And that’s why today I’m calling him a donkey (apologies in advance to all donkeys).

They’re not even trying. I mean, a little bit of effort and they might have come up with ass Instead of donkey and got two insults for the price of one – but I guess if you are a fundamentalist you can’t cope with that level of ambiguity.

I hope that Maajid will never be a martyr to the cause of free speech. Unlike, say Theo Van Gogh. There are murderous idiots out there and people obsess over the naughtiness of ever causing offense to anyone ever, regardless of substance or context.

As for “all sections of the Muslim Community”, those include Maajid and his colleagues. It includes many ex-Muslims, many of whom keep their non-belief secret to avoid problems within their community. It includes liberal Muslims and those who really don’t give a toss and are more interested in their families, their job or how their football team are doing. What the Islamists really hate is not having power over all of those people.

Josh @ #3 is so damn right. If it weren’t for the childish little tantrum from Salih care of LOLimamz, I’d not have done a GIS on Nawaz. I’m not generally much interested in men, but wow, he is damn fine. And Salih’s jealousy is so, so transparent.